Five First Kisses Laura and Rodney
by evil-jeannie75
Summary: The five most important kisses in the lives of two of Atlantis' residents. Chapter 3: Love is in the Air. Our favorite couple meet up yet again...this time on an airplane.
1. Playground Pals

Warning : Spoiler up to and including Phantoms.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis. Stargate Atlantis and all characters associated with it are owned by MGM.

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A little boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes sat near the sandbox in his local park putting the finishing touches on a homemade volcano he had constructed out of sand, dirt, and clay. The boy, about nine years old, had planned on making the mountain explode a few times before he had to head home to get ready for his piano lesson.

"Hi!" a little girl said brightly coming up behind him.

"Hi," he said as he was packing the last layer of dirt on the volcano.

"Is that a volcano?" the girl asked not even caring that the boy didn't look up at her.

"Yup."

"Are you going to make it explode?"

"What else would I do with it?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"Can I watch?" she asked hopefully, unfazed by the boy's sarcasm.

"Sure," he said. It wasn't often that kids asked to play with him and as long as she didn't mess up his volcano, he didn't care what she did.

The girl bounced over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him happily. She was sitting so close that they were almost touching. She watched him poor the vinegar into the cup located at the top center of the volcano. Then, she watched him dole out the correct amount of baking soda necessary to make the eruption.

"You should use more baking soda," the girl told him.

"Why?"

"Because it'll make the explosion bigger," she explained.

He looked up at her for the first time since they had started talking. She had red-gold hair and the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Not much older than his sister, she seemed smarter than most girls her age.

"How do you know that?"

"I read it in a book," the girl told him proudly.

"You can read?" he asked incredulously.

"Since I was three," she laughed. "Now, are you going to make the volcano explode or what?"

"How much more should I add?"

"This much," she said scooping some more baking soda on the spoon and dropping it into the vinegar.

The pair watched as the mix bubbled up towards the top of the volcano and exploded all over them, covering them in vinegar, baking soda, and dirt.

"That was so cool!" the boy said as they fell back laughing.

"Can we do that again?" the girl asked.

"Laura! Laura!" a woman's voice called. "Where are you?"

"That's my mom," Laura said getting up off the ground. "Be right back."

"I'm right here, Mommy," Laura said running over to where her mother was standing.

Her mother looked down at her disapprovingly. "Oh, Laura! What have you done now?"

"There was this boy and he had a volcano and we made it explode!" Laura told her mother excitedly. "It was so cool!"

"Look at you. You're a mess!" Laura's mother said trying to wipe the dirt off her daughter's clothes. "Why can't you do things that normal little girls do, like play with dolls and have tea parties?"

"Because making volcanoes explode is more fun," Laura said with a grin.

"Come on," Laura's mother took her hand. "We've got to go meet your father and then, you are going to have a bath to get all of this dirt off of you."

"But I don't want to go," Laura whined. "We're going to make the volcano explode again."

"I'm sorry, Laura, but you know that we're leaving tomorrow. Go say goodbye to your friend."

Laura ran off to where she left the boy and his volcano saddened by the fact that she had to leave.

"Hi," she said gloomily.

"Hi," the boy said happily. "I was thinking that if we make it two parts vinegar and five parts baking soda, we'll get a really big explosion. What do you think?"

"I can't," Laura pouted. "My mom says I have to go."

"Oh," the boy said disappointed.

The girl smiled a little and leaned over to give him a small peck on the lips. She got up an ran towards her mother. "Bye," she waved.

"Bye," the boy said stunned.

"You just got kissed," an older boy, only a few years older than himself, who sitting near them pointed out. He had dark messy hair and a sloppy grin. "By a girl."

"Yup," the younger boy said still in shock.

"Yuck! I'm never gonna kiss girls. Ever! The have cooties." the older boy stated. "I'm not even going to touch them or look at them, unless it's to tell them they're ugly."

"Yeah, girls are dumb," the younger boy said rather unconvincingly. "You wanna help me make the volcano explode?"

"Sure!" the older boy said. "Only, instead of making it two parts vinegar and five parts baking soda, let's make it three parts vinegar and seven parts baking soda. That way the explosion will be huge.

"That sounds cool," the younger boy said.

"I'm John. What's your name?"

"My name is Mer…er…Rodney. My name is Rodney."

"Nice to meet you, Rodney. Now, let's make this baby explode!" John said rubbing his hands together mischievously.

They began setting up the volcano's next explosion and played together happily until both had to leave. Neither one realizing that this wasn't going to be the last time they'd see each other.

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Please review.

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Note: I have absolutely no idea what the measurement proportions are that are required to make a volcano explode. I only know that that vinegar and  
baking soda are needed. Please excuse any errors. 


	2. Alcohol Induced Snogging

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Stargate Atlantis. I'm actually a little upset about that. Can't ya tell?

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Rodney McKay opened the door to Mickey's pub and headed straight to the bar and ordered a drink. He looked out the window and frowned. It was the middle of winter and not even a sign of snow. It was very warm outside. So warm, in fact, that all he needed was a light jacket. He couldn't remember for the life of him why he chose this city. He missed snow. He missed the cold. He missed Canada. He was contemplating this fact when someone bumped into him.

"Watch it!" Rodney snapped. He looked down at the perpetrator and saw that it was a woman; a very pretty woman with tousled red-gold hair and hazel eyes.

Before he could say anything, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him passionately, effectively knocking the wind out of him. It took his brain a few seconds to kick in, but soon he was kissing her back just as fiercely as she was kissing him. As if on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her waist bringing them closer together.

A part of him recognized that this wasn't exactly a normal situation. Women didn't go up to strange men and kiss them,; especially, the way she was kissing him. However, the rest of him couldn't give a damn. Beautiful women did not just walk up to him and kiss him like that. He figured that he'd better enjoy it while he could.

When they parted, both a little breathless, Rodney noticed that they had shift position. Her back was now up against the bar and he was standing in front of her instead of the other way around. They stood in silence for a minute or two not knowing what to say.

"You're not married are you?" she asked him breaking the ice. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck and his were still wrapped around her waist.

Rodney shook his head no

"Engaged?"

Again, he shook his head unable to speak.

"Girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

"God no!" Rodney exclaimed, finally finding his voice.

"Thank God!" she breathed out in relief. "A jealous lover is the last thing I need to worry about right now."

"I'm glad you're relieved. Now, if you don't mind, it's my turn to ask some questions," Rodney said.

The woman looked over his shoulder for a moment and then back at him. "Okay. Shoot!" she said.

"Okay? What is this all about?"

"What?" she furrowed her brow.

"This," he said gesturing in between them. "You know, you coming up to me and kissing me like we were in some sappy, romantic movie and then acting all jittery." Rodney felt her hand travel down from his neck to his ass. Rodney stiffened "And why the hell is your hand on my ass?"

Laura wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm hiding," she said battling her eyelashes at him.

"Hiding? Oh God, you didn't steal anything did you?"

"Of course not! If you must know, I'm hiding from an ex-boyfriend. I was hanging out here with some friends when he showed up and I don't want to talk to him, let alone see him and I don't want him to see me, so that's where you come in."

"And what exactly is my role in this whole thing?"

"You're going to help me hide," she explained.

"Oh, I am? Am I?" he said sarcastically. "And where exactly is this boyfriend of yours?"

"Ex-boyfriend," she reminded him. "And he's over there?" she said pointing him out.

"Where?" He was turned around about half way trying to find the ex-boyfriend, when she pulled him by the shirt to face her. "What? I was trying to see."

"Don't you know that you're not supposed to look?" she scolded.

"No. I didn't know that was a rule," Rodney said sarcastically.

"You're an idiot!"

"Well, if I'm such an idiot, maybe you should find some else who's more intelligent to play your little game?" he said folding his arms across his chest with a look of disdain on his face.

"He's coming this way," she warned.

"Then you should get ready to say hi because the two of you are about to get reacquainted." He turned to walk away, but she grabbed him and kissed him like she had before.

"Must you keep doing that?"

"It's not like you weren't enjoying it."

"I hate you!" he growled.

"You're lips are say otherwise," she said smugly.

"Shut up," he said kissing her into silence.

"Now, that's more like it," she said with a grin. She looked around to see if her ex-boyfriend had left. "Is he gone?"

Rodney looked around, but didn't see the ex-boyfriend. "Yeah, I think he is."

"Phew!" she breathed in relief. "You'd figure that being an entire continent away from where you grew up that you would'nyt bump into anyone you actually knew? I can't believe he showed up here? Murphy's Law I guess. The person you want to see the least is the person who ends up showing up."

Rodney laughed. "Isn't that always how it is?"

"Yeah?" she said. There was a moment of awkward silence, each of them trying to come to a decision. "I should go," she said. She kissed him gently on the cheek. "Thank you."

Rodney watched her walk away and came to a decision of his own. "Wait!" he said grabbing her wrist and pulling her back towards him. "You can't go yet."

"Why not?"

"Because he just walked back in," he lied.

"Oh, really?" she asked amused. "Just now?"

"Yeah, he probably had to go and feed the meter," Rodney offered.

"Feed the meter?" she asked incredulously, knowing exactly what he was getting at. Not that she was going to complain. In fact, she was looking for any reason to stay.

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess you're going to have to hide me?"

"Only if I have to," Rodney said in mock resignation, when in reality, he was jumping for joy on the inside.

"You do." This kiss was different from all the others. It was passionate, but also intense and loving. Something that you don't get from a complete stranger. It was almost as if they weren't strangers at all, but soul mates reunited after a long time away from each other.

When they parted, he leaned his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. His eyes were bright and his gaze intense. So much so that it was starting to make her uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It's just that, you remind me of a girl that I knew when I was a kid."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Let me help you," she offered. She stood on her toes and kissed him. "How 'bout now? She asked smiling against his mouth.

"Still not sure? I think you're going to have to do that again," Rodney said smiling.

She reached up for another kiss, when the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted her.

"What is this 'Kiss the Geek'?" one of her friends asked obnoxiously.

The woman ignored the rude comment and shot her friend a dirty look. "Guys, this is…."

"Who cares what his name is?" the other girl said. "There are some really hot guys at the Green Lantern down the street. Let's go!"

"I guess I have to go," she said.

"Yeah," Rodney said hoping not to sound too disappointed.

"Thanks again," she said kissing him on the cheek. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before walking out the door.

"Girlfriend?" a guy who was sitting at the bar asked. He had dark, spiky hair and was wearing an Air Force uniform.

"No."

"Could've fooled me," he said taking a gulp of his drink.

Rodney was about to make a sarcastic comment when someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was her!

"What are you doing here?" he sputtered.

"I forgot to tell you something," she said smiling.

"What?"

"You remind me of someone too," she said.

"Who?"

"My first kiss." She kissed him one more time and headed out the door to meet her friends leaving him to stand there in shock.

He shook his head trying to kick start his brain. "Oh, yeah. That's her," Rodney said grinning.

"Who?" Sergeant Spiky Hair asked curiously.

"When I was a kid, I met a girl who looked just like her. Same hair, same eyes, and the ability to make my head hurt after five minutes of talking to her," Rodney explained sitting up on a bar stool. "And that," he said pointing towards the door, "was definitely her."

"Well, then, to running into old friends and making new ones," Sergeant Spiky Hair raised his glass and toasted.

"Cheers," Rodney said clinking is glass with the military officer. "Wasn't that a little deep for a military grunt?"

"At least my girlfriend isn't certifiable," the military grunt snarked back.

"Hey! First of all, she is not my girlfriend and second of all, she is not certifiable!"

"She would have to be to kiss you."

"At least my hair doesn't look like is should be caged and studied," Rodney said sarcastically. "Isn't that haircut against regulations?"

"Yeah, but the higher-ups love it. Especially the female ones," Sergeant Spiky Hair said with a sloppy grin.

"You really are a piece of work, you know that?"

"Yup," he said taking another sip of his drink.

Rodney took one final gulp of his drink and got up from the barstool. He fished out his wallet and paid the bartender.

"Well, Sergeant Spiky Hair, as lovely as our little chat has been, I've got to go."

"First off, it's Captain Spiky Hair and I prefer Captain Hotpants."

"Not a chance of that happening," Rodney snickered.

"Secondly," the captian said a little louder, "aren't you going to buy me a drink?"

"Why would I buy you a drink?" Rodney said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh come on, you talk me up for all this time, the least you can do is buy me a drink," he said.

"Sorry, you're not my type," Rodney said with a smirk.

"Sure you don't want another round, McKay?" bartender asked.

"Not tonight, Joe." Rodney said.

"What are you going to do? Go chase after you're girlfriend?" Joe teased.

"For the last time, she's not my girlfriend!"

"Not yet anyway," he teased.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Goodnight," he called as he walked towards the door.

"Another one?" the Joe asked coming to stand in front of the captain.

"Why not?"

Joe waited until he was sure that Rodney had left. He leaned across the bar toward the captain. "Twenty bucks those two end up married."

"You're on," the captain said and shook the bartender's hand.

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Please Review. 


	3. Love is in the Air

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis...blah...blah...blah.

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Note: Thank you to all who submitted ideas for this chapter. You guys rock!

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Laura Cadman looked glumly out the window of the Boeing 747 that she was currently on. She was flying to California from Washington, D.C. to visit her parents. Visiting her parents was never a thrill for Laura, chiefly because nothing she ever did was good enough for them. They always wanted more or wanted her to be something that she wasn't.

She was especially dreading this visit. It was on this particular visit that Laura had to tell her parents that the man that they were desperately hoping would be come their future son-in-law and future father of their grandchildren was no longer in the picture. Of course, the reason that he was no longer in the picture was she had dumped him. More precisely, she had gotten rid of what little belongings he had kept at her apartment when she had tossed him out on his ass. Thank God they weren't living together! Not that Laura would have agreed to it, but being cheated on no matter what the relationship status was kind of tends to bring people down. So here she was sitting on an airplane looking like she was about ready to face a firing squad, which to be honest, she would take over a visit with her parents any day. At least with the firing squad, you get it over quickly. A visit with her parents is more like torture, slow and painful and the fact that yet another "wonderful' man cheated on her will be brought up by her family for years to come. Laura decided that at this particular moment, she would give anything for a firing squad.

"Hey, blondie! Get up! You're in my seat," a man barked at her shaking her out of her revelry.

"You must be blind," Laura said to the man, her eyes still looking out the window onto the tarmac.

"And why is that?"

"Because I am most definitely not a blonde." It was at that moment that Laura chose to look at the offensive man and her breath caught in her throat. He was quite handsome. He had longish dark brown hair that went down to the middle of his neck and curled at the ends and the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.

"So I might have misjudged the color of your hair. Sue me and once you're finished with that get out of my seat.'

Laura smiled. She lied. She had definitely seen those eyes before…twice to be specific and she was also very familiar with that brand of sarcasm. "What makes you think this seat is yours?" Laura asked sweetly.

"Oh, I don't know, for the simple fact that number of the seat that you're sitting in is on my ticket," he snarked.

"What a coincidence that is because the number of the seat that I'm sitting in is also on my ticket. How 'bout that? I guess we're going to have to share," Laura said with a wink.

"Move!" he ordered her loudly. By this time, all eyes in the cabin were on them.

"No, I don't think I will," she said plainly.

"Oh, you don't think you will," the man mocked. "Let me put it this way so it will be easier for you to understand. Get your ass the hell out of my seat now!"

"Excuse me? Where do you get off talking to me like that? You don't even know me and you think that you have the right to treat me like a piece of shit. Let me tell you something, you've got another thing coming…"

It was at that moment that the flight attendant chose to intervene in the dispute effectively cutting Laura off. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, is there a problem here?"

"Oh, no, we were having a grand old time yelling at each other," he said sarcastically. "In fact, this is actually a form of foreplay. What happens is we fight and scream and argue and yell right before we fuck each others brains out."

"Yeah, which reminds me, we have about twenty minutes until the plane takes off, so do you want to get to it now or wait until we're in the air?" Laura asked the man in response to his earlier comment.

"I'll let you know as soon as we get this seat thing straightened out."

"Oh, right, the seat thing. You see here's the problem. It would appear that he and I were assigned the same seats," Laura told the flight attendant who looked un-amused by their earlier behavior.

"May I see your tickets?" the flight attendant asked.

Laura and the man handed her their tickets. After examining them closely, she shook her head," Well, it would appear that the airline has made a mistake and assigned the two of you to the same seat. Usually, what happens in this case is that we upgrade the person without a seat to first class." Rodney gave a triumphant grin at this. "…however, there are no available seats in first class or anywhere else on the plane except for seat 5D."

"And where exactly is seat 5D?" he asked.

"I believe it would be right in between 5C and 5E," Laura said sarcastically.

"Haha, very funny. You know you're a regular riot. Where on the plane is seat 5D?" he asked loudly.

The flight attendant pointed to the seat next to the one Laura. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me?"

"Hey, look at it now, we can fuck each other's brains out so much easier sitting next to each other than with you in first class," Laura smirked.

Rodney rolled his eyes and turned to the flight attendant. "Look Candy, that's a lovely name by the way, I know that there has to be another empty seat on this plane," Rodney said sweetly.

"No, I'm sorry sir, seat 5D is the only empty seat on today's flight. If you'd like, you could always take a later flight."

"Unfortunately, a later flight is not an option. Do you think I could switch seats with somebody?'

"I'm sorry sir, it's against policy. Besides, most of our passengers are seated comfortably in their seats and I doubt that they would want to be disturbed."

"You know, you're very good at this flight attendant thing," he said flirtatiously "I'm sure that you could convince someone to switch seats with me."

Candy rolled her eyes. "Sir, the only available seat on this plane is seat 5D, so either take that seat or get off the plane and just so you know, she is more my type," Candy said pointing to Laura.

The man was confused for a moment and then it dawned on him. Oh!

"Have a good flight, sir," the flight attendant said, the amusement evident in her voice.

"Yeah, thanks," he waved dismissively at the woman.

Laura gave him a smug grin.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. It's written all over your face." He stowed his carry-on in the overhead compartment and slammed it shut.

"Oh, so now you're a mind reader?"

"Among other things," he said taking his seat next to her.

"Really? Then, you must have heard that dirty little thought I had involving you, me, the airplane restroom and handcuffs. Can you say mile-high club?"

"What?" he choked.

Laura grinned.

"You didn't think the flirting thing was actually gonna work, did you?"

"Flirting is my specialty."

"Well, you need a new specialty.'

"How about you keep your mouth shut for the rest of the flight. Do you think you can do that?"

"We haven't taken off yet."

"Well, how about until takeoff, then?"

"Oh, come on! Bugging you is so much more fun," Laura whined.

"I hate you!"

Laura smiled. He hadn't changed much since the last time she saw him. His hair was a little longer and he put on a little weight, but it suited him. The eyes, though, they were the same. She always loved his eyes. She loved how the color changed along with his emotions. Whoever said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, must have had him in mind. Laura looked over to see if she could get a peek at the eyes she loved so much and grinned at what she saw. It looked like he was pouting!

"You're sulking!" Laura laughed.

"I'm not sulking," he said with his arms folded across his chest.

"You are? It's so cute," she teased.

"I'm not…wait! It is?"

"Yes," she giggled. "Well, a little. I wouldn't want your head to get too big, what with you being a flirtation specialist and all."

"Funny. Make jokes. Go ahead."

"It's not my fault that I'm prettier than you are," Laura said innocently.

He mumbled something which she wasn't able to catch and she looked out the window. It was just like the day they first met all those years ago in the park in Canada. She smiled at the memory and wondered if he remembered her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Can I stop you?"

Laura took a deep breath, "You ever build a volcano when you were younger? You know, you get all the clay and mold it around the soda bottle into this perfect cone like blob and then you paint it trying to get the color just the perfect shade brown.. Then, you mix just enough vinegar and baking soda together and wait for the mixture to rise up and over the rim of the bottle and flow down the side of your volcano covering all of the people and trees you placed on the surrounding landscape."

"You keep doing it over and over again trying to get a bigger and better explosion until all of the paint that was carefully placed on the volcano washes off and you are unable to get the people and trees to stick, but then, you realize, no explosion is going to be as good or as fulfilling as the first one. The first one is full of anticipation and exploration. You don't know how the 'lava' is going to flow out of the volcano. You don't know whether it's just going to explode outright or whether it's going to bubble and then flow down, but after that first time…you know. You know that no matter how much you change the mixture or how big you make the explosion it's always going to flow the same way. It's kind of like a first kiss. Nothing is ever as satisfying as that first kiss…that first spark."

"You end up getting bored with the first one and make a bigger and better volcano so you can have bigger and better explosions and before you know it, you end up having to make another volcano because you've gotten bored with the one you have and it goes on and on. You're never happy with what you have. Why is that?"

The man regarded her thoughtfully trying to come up with the right words. "I'm not sure," he said honestly. "But I do know one thing. Just because you're not happy with the first one or the second one or the third one does not mean that you're not going be happy with the next because you will eventually make the perfect volcano and it's not going to matter that the paint is gone or the people won't stay in place because that is part of the its charm. The paint and the people and the trees are all cosmetic. In the grand scheme of volcanoes, they don't matter. What matters is the texture of the volcano and the shape. That's what shapes the explosion, not the cosmetic things and when you finally make that perfect volcano that gives you the perfect explosion, you're not going to want to make any others."

"It's good to see you again Rodney," she said.

"Yeah, you too. Laura."

Laura gave him a shy smile. "I didn't think you remembered."

"Are you kidding me? You were my first volcano."

Laura laughed. "Well, if it's any consolation, you were my first volcano too."

"I know, you said that the night at the bar right after you kissed me senseless."

"I did?"

"Yup."

An awkward silence descended upon them. Both unsure of what to say or how to act because it had been such a long time since the last time they had seen each other. It was Rodney, who decided to break that silence.

"So where are you headed?" Rodney asked.

"California. I'm going to tell my parents that the man they hoped would become their future son-in-law is a lying, cheating, stealing bastard. You?"

"Japan. For work."

"I'm going to Hawaii," the guy next to Rodney said.

"No one asked you," Rodney snarked.

"Sorry. I didn't realize it was a private conversation. My mistake," the guy smirked.

"The fact that I was looking at her when I asked her where she was headed didn't give you a clue?"

"I wasn't looking at you," John admitted. "I was looking at her." John held up the magazine that he was looking at. "Check her out!"

Rodney looked at the picture of the woman. She was hot! "Hey, do you think those are real?"

"Does it really matter?" 5C asked.

Laura rolled her eyes and snatched the magazine from the guy's hands. "Yes it does matter! And those are not real!" Laura turned to Rodney, "Now are you actually going to talk to me or are you going to spend your time looking at some big breasted Barbie doll?"

"Well, if you're going to yell at me like that…"

Laura glared at him. Rodney took the magazine from her hands and handed it back to 5C. He turned back to Laura. Not only was she still glaring, but now she had her arms folded across her chest. Definitely, not a good sign for Rodney.

"I'd much rather talk to you," Rodney said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can always pick one up while I'm on layover."

"Ooh!" Laura smacked him.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You're a pig. I should have known. Only a man whore would stick his tongue down a strange girl's throat."

"Hey, first of all, you started it! You kissed me first. So don't go pointing fingers at the man whore because that definitely isn't me."

"Hey, don't look at me," 5C said. "I enjoy my man whore status."

"What part of private conversation do you not understand? The private or the if you say one more word I'm going to pick you up by your hair and throw you our the nearest side exit.?"

"Yeah, I don't think that's what private conversation means," 5C smirked.

"Well, it's what it's gonna mean in about five seconds if you don't shut your mouth," Laura warned.

"What are you gonna do…hit me?"

"No, I've got something better in mind," Laura said smugly.

"What?"

"How would you like to have sex?"

"With you?" 5C's eyes went wide.

"With anyone…ever…again?"

"You wouldn't?"

"I would and before you say it, I could. I'm a Marine. They teach us these things."

5C looked at the serious look on her face and then down and back up. "I'll just read quietly over here," he said turned so that his feet were in the aisle and his back was to the couple.

Rodney looked at her in appreciation. "That was hot!"

"Thank you," Laura smiled. "I'm sorry for hitting you before, even though, you did deserve it."

"Well, I'm sorry about the whole man whore thing, but I mean, she was really hot!"

"Damn straight!" 5C added.

"Snip. Snip, flyboy," Laura said so that 5C would hear..5C again shut up.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Rodney laughed.

"Don't get on my bad side," Laura smirked.

"HaHa very funny."

"I try."

"So you wanna tell me about the guy?"

"Not really," Laura said. She leaned her head back against the seat. "God, what am I gonna tell my parents?"

"What you told me. That he was a liar, and a cheat, and a thief. That statement alone should make your father and all your brothers want hunt him down, beat the shit out of him, and then, kill him slowly and painfully."

"I don't have brothers and my father really liked him. So did my mom and all of my sisters are married with kids and I'm the only one who isn't. They're gonna think it's my fault."

"Did you cheat on him?"

"No."

"Did you lie to him?"

"No."

"Did you steal from him?"

"No."

"Then, it's not your fault. It's his. He was the moron, not you and you know what? Your father should be happy that you're no longer with that jackass because any guy who cheats on you is a complete idiot and why would you want to dip into that gene pool."

"I'm not that great of a catch."

"Are you kidding me? The way that you handled the guy next to me was totally hot! Plus, you are a fantastic kisser and if memory serves me right, which it definitely does in this case, you are also fantastic at other things as well and since I am a gentleman, I won't elaborate on what exactly those things are…unless of course you want me to." Rodney winked.

"Rod-ney!" she said swatting him playfully, the blush evident on her cheeks.

"What? It's the truth."

Laura smiled. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Well, I pride my self on being not so bad."

"Come on, you know you were better than not so bad."

"Yeah, I know," he grinned.

Laura smiled. "How long is your layover?"

"A couple of hours."

"Oh. Is there any chance that you can delay the flight?" she asked hopefully.

Rodney shook his head. "I wish I could. I really wish I could, but I have to go to a meeting as soon as I arrive."

"Well, that's okay. We still have six hours to catch up," Laura said looking at her watch.

"More like seven. We're flying against the wind," 5C told them.

"Again with the unsolicited comments. Much you get a word in everything?"

5C thought about it. "Yes."

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Anyway…six hours."

"Seven hours is better," Laura told him laying her head on his shoulder.

"Seven hours is definitely better." Rodney wrapped his arm around her and smiled.

Laura leaned up and kissed Rodney very softly on the lips. The kiss was about to get interesting, when 5C interrupted them…again.

"Are you guys gonna be making out the whole flight?"

"Shut up and read your porn!" Laura told him.

"It's not porn, it's Maxim. There's a difference."

Laura scoffed.

5C nudged Rodney. "Come on, tell her."

Rodney threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, leave me out of this. I'm not going to say anything that could possibly stop her from doing what she was just doing because she's really good at it, so shut up and read your porn."

"Whipped!" 5C coughed.

"For the next seven hours, yeah," Rodney smirked. "Think about it, I get to cuddle up with a beautiful Marine and you get to cuddle up with this month's issue of Maxim. Which of us do you think has it better?"

"I don't know man, these girls are pretty hot."

"A nice warm body versus a bunch of paper? It's really a no brainier, unless of course, you don't have a brain, which would explain your haircut." Rodney turned back to Laura and wrapped his arm around her. "Now, where were we?"

"Right about here," Laura said leaning in for another kiss. The guy next to them rolled his eyes so loudly that they actually heard them.

"Hey, I was thinking," Rodney said. "How about the next time we meet and we do that thing we just did, we try that whole relationship thing? I mean, I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Whaddya say?"

"You're not very good at that relationship thing?"

"But the important thing is that I am willing to try…for you?" Rodney gave her is best puppy dog face.

"I'm gonna hold you to that promise," Laura warned.

"That's fine with me. Just be warned that I may not let you go."

"Well, just so you know, I don't share, so you're gonna have to tell all of your other girlfriends that there's a new woman in your life. A woman who could blow up anything and everything she wanted to and have none of it traced to her."

"Only, if you tell all of your boyfriends that your new boyfriend knows people that can do some pretty amazing things with technology. In other words, they won't find the body."

"Are you guys gonna keep one-upping each other the whole flight because it's starting to get sickening," 5C whined.

"No, it's not. It's romantic," said the guy in 4B who was eagerly listening to the conversation in row 5.

"Shut up!" the three said in unison.

4B looked like he was about ready to cry.

5C looked over and started to laugh. "I think we made him cry," he said leaning over to tell Rodney.

"Really? Let me see." Rodney looked out the aisle and saw little tears on 4B's cheeks. "Oh, shit!" he said laughing.

"What'd I tell you?" 5C smiled.

"That was good," Rodney and 5C bumped fists.

Laura cleared her throat and looked expectantly at Rodney.

"Oh, right. Porn!" Rodney said pointing to the magazine.

"Righto!"

"Righto? What the hell is that? You could have thought of something better than…" Rodney was cut off my Laura's lips, not that he was complaining.

"Righto's fine," Rodney said when they parted.

"Excuse me, sir?" Candy, the flight attendant said to Rodney. "A seat has become available in first class. We can move you now."

"Well, I guess I've got to go," Rodney said. He gave Laura's cheek a gentle caress, "Look, that guy, the one who cheated on you, he's not worth your tears. There's someone out there for you who's better and it may not be me or the guy sitting next to me or the guy in seat 4B, but there is someone out there. You may not meet him today or next week or next month or next year, but you will meet him and when you do you'll know and you won't have to worry about him trading you in for a better volcano because you'll be the 'official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle' of volcanoes. Okay?"

Laura smiled at him. "You forgot "with a compass in the stock and 'this thing', which tells time," but yeah.

There was a sniffle from the guy in seat 4B. "Are you crying?" the guy in 5C asked him.

"No…well, yes. It's just so romantic…just like a movie," the man said in a Scottish accent.

5C rolled his eyes. "Try and keep it together."

4B nodded blowing his nose with his handkerchief.

"We will be taking off shortly," the flight attendant told Rodney. "If you are going to change your seat, you have to do it now."

Rodney gave Laura's hand one final squeeze and stepped over the guy in 5C to get into the aisle. "Remember what I said."

Laura smiled.

"Rodney?" Laura said.

He looked back at her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said with a smile.

He followed the flight attendant towards first class, then stopped short. He turned around and headed back to row five.

"You, with the hair," he told the guy in 5C.

"What?"

"You wanna go sit in first class?"

"Yeah," the guy said.

"Your name please?" the flight attendant asked.

"John Sheppard."

"Well, sir, if you'll just follow me, I will escort you to first class."

He grabbed his things and was about to head towards first class when he turned around. "You know, you really shouldn't let this one get away," 5C said so that only Rodney could here. "You only get so many chances."

"I know."

"So don't screw up."

"This coming from a man who looks like he slept with his finger stuck in a light socket," Rodney snarked.

"Hey, chicks dig the hair," he said. "Right?" John looked at the flight attendant and winked.

The flight attendant rolled her eyes.

"I think you're losing your touch Captain Spiky hair," Rodney teased.

"Hey, it Major Spikey-hair," John said. "Although, I do prefer Major Hotpants."

"Yeah, still not gonna happen."

"Well, good luck Rodney," the Major said giving him a sloppy salute.

"Same to you, Major," Rodney saluted back and went to go sit next to Laura.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Just a friend. We met in a bar."

"You kiss him too?"

"No, he offered, but I told him he wasn't my type."

"Really? What exactly is your type?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"


End file.
